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Unitil warning customers of phone scam

Callers tell people they need to pay their bill

The utility company received numerous reports on Thursday of callers seeking payment, and the scammers are threatening customers that if they don't pay, their power will be shut off within the hour.

Unitil warning customers of phone scam

Callers tell people they need to pay their bill

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Updated: 12:09 AM EDT Jul 12, 2013

MANCHESTER, N.H. —

Unitil is warning its customers about a phone scam targeting the Seacoast.

The utility company received numerous reports on Thursday of callers seeking payment, and the scammers are threatening customers that if they don't pay, their power will be shut off within the hour.

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News 9's Adam Sexton spoke with one of the targeted customers.

"I said as far as I know I've never missed a payment," said Mark George, owner of White's Welding.

The scam isn't too sophisticated but it started popping up with enough frequency that Unitil wanted to get the word out before someone got duped.

The person who called George told him his last two checks didn't clear and if he didn't settle the bill right away, his welding operation would go dark.

"He said you can either pay with a credit card or you can pay cash transfer over the phone," George said.

George said he hung up to call his bookkeeper but decided to contact Unitil directly.

A customer representative told him it sounded like a scam.

Sure enough, within the hour, officials said more than a half-dozen reports of similar calls came in.

"The scammer is saying, essentially, you need to pay us using a pre-paid card, a green dot card -- you go to a CVS or a Rite Aid, get one of these cards, and then you have to give them that card information, otherwise they claim you will lose power within an hour," said Unitil spokesman Alec O'Meara.

Unitil said when it makes a call about payments, it offers multiple options and doesn't get pushy.

"If a call rep is pressuring you to pay over the phone in a very specific way, you should hang up, call our customer service department, and verify your account status," O'Meara said.

George said he wants to get the word out about this phone fraud to make sure no one is victimized by scammers trying to turn a dishonest dollar.

"People try to get out the easy way, and you need to work for a living," George said.

Police are also working on the case, though it can be difficult to pin down these phone scam operations.

George said the callback number given to him by the individual he spoke with had a Utah area code.